Photographic-print-treating apparatus



April 7, 1931. A; w. CAPS PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT TREATING APPARATUS Filed April 10. 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 7, 1931. Y A. w. mp5 ,7

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT TREATING APPARATUS Filed April 10, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR April 7, 1931. Y A. w. CAPS 1,799,280 PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT TREATING APPARATUS Filed April 10, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR i4? rW& 5 W rW 'ATTOR Y6 w Patented Apr. 7, 1931 UNITED- STATES mazes:

PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR W. CAPS. OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO PHOTOSTAT CORPORATION, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, [a COE-POR-.LTION OF RHODE ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHIC-PRINT-TREATI1\TG APPARATUS Application filed April 10,

The invention relates to. apparatus for treating photographic prints, and is especially applicable to so-called commercial cameras which are used for making photographic reproductions of documents and various other objects. An object, of the invention is the provision of generally improved and more satisfactory means for treating photographic prints- Another object of the invention is the pro vision of simple and satisfactory means for subjecting a print to a preliminary fixing action sufiicient. to prevent it. from becoming spotted or otherwise affected by light while it is undergoing final fixation.

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of .parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical. section. taken centrally through a portion of a commercial camera, showing a preferred embodiment of the invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan of a pin bar forming part of the print conveying mechanism of the commercial camera;

Fig. 3 is aview of a part of the apparatus shown in Fi 1, illustrating it in a dillerent position; 1

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the dipper forming part of the print treating means, and

5 is a side elevation of a portion of the apparatus, illustrating the drive for the print conveying mechanism and the print treating means.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, there isv shown a commercial camera having an exposure chamber having means for holding sheet of sensitized material at 11 in the focal plane of the camera, so that, in

1929. Serial No. 354,096.

ages of documents or other articles to be reproduced fall upon this sensitized material in the focal plane and produce a photographic print. The exposed print is then fed by feeding means such as the rolls 12 and 13, and the exposed portion is severed from the remaining portion or" the. sensitized material (which is usually in the form of a roll or long strip) by a reciprocating knife let.

The exposed print when thus severed dropsinto suitable print holdi means such as the telescoping chute comprising a stationa y portion 15 and a movable portion 16, and is held by this chute in position to be picked up by suitable print conveying mechanism comprising a pair oi endless members such as the chains 17 and one or more picl; up devices such as the pin bars 18 attached at each end to one o t the endless members 1'7. Each of these pin bars 18 carries pins 19 pro-- jecting forwardly in the direction of travel of the conveying mechanism.

The print within the chute 15, 16 is held so that its lower edge extends across the path of travel of the pin bars 18, in position to be impaled by the pins 19 during the movement of the conveying mechanism. hen the pins have pierced the print, the print thus becomes attached to the conveying mechanism, and further movement of the mechanism draws the print out of the chute 15, 16 and carries it along a path of travel corresponding to the path of travel of the conveying mechanism. This path of travel may pass through a print treating bath 20, such as a developing bath, so that the photographic print is developed and may then pass through another print treating bath 21, such as a Washing bath of water or the like, so that the print is washed.

From this washing bath the print conveying mechanism moves upwardly, around sprockets on a shaft 22, and forwardly over the top of another print treating bath 23, which may he a. fixing ath of hypo or th like. Toward the front end of this bath, the chains 17 pass over sprockets 24 and 25 mounted on studs secured to the side walls of the apparatus, and then passes forwardly again, and around sprockets 26, and thence downwardly past the end of the chute 15, 16 to pick up another print.

It will be understood by those familiar with apparatus of this type that the prints are usually of substantial length, only the forward end of each print being attached to the conveying mechanism by being impale; upon the pins 19 ofa pin bar 18, while'the rest of the print is not supported by the conveying mechanism but simply trails along behind the pin bar. As the pin bar passes around the shaft 22 and begins its forward horizontal travel, the print is pulled over a roller 27 on this shaft 22. As the rear edge of the print approaches the roller 27, the body of the print between the pin bar and the roller tends to become bowed downwardly toward the surface of the bath 23, and is partially held up by a partition 28 in the bath 23, the upper edge of the partition being rounded so that the print may slide easily over it. After the entire length of the int has been drawn over the roller27, and o*-. the partition 28, the main body of the print is obviously free to drop to the surface of the bath 23, leaving only the forward edge of the print held up out of the bath by reason of its impalement on the pins 19.

At about the same time that the rear edge of the print is drawn over the partition 28, the pin bar to which the front edge of the print is attached passes around the sprocket 24 so that the direction of motion of t conveying mechanism temporarily reversed, as will be evident from Figures 1, 3, and 5. lVhen the pin bar is approximately at the top of the sprockets 24, with the pins 19 pointing rearwardly and with the print likewise extending rearwardly from the pins, the print is automatically removed from the pins by mechanism such as is shown in Fig. 5. This mechanism comprises a shaft 30 oscillated by driving means to be described below, a member 31 fixed to this oscillating shaft 30, and a flexible strip of rubber or the like secured to the member 31. ll h n the lower edge of the rubber str p 32 moves rearwardly during one of its os lat-ions, it con tacts with the print impaled upon the pins 19 and wipes the print of'the pins, thus freeing it on 'rely from the conveying mechanism and allowing the forward edge of the print to 'drop into the bath 23 in which the main body of theprint is alreadylying.

After the print is thus removed from th/ pin bar, continued motion. of the chains draws the pin bar around the sproc sets and 26 and moves it downwardly past 'th mouth of the chute 15, 16, so that it pick, up another print from the chute if one is present therein, and carries this other print through the same cycle, including immersing in the developing bath 20, and the washing bath 21, depositing it in tae fixing bath 23,

Although the conveying mechanism might driven either continuously or intermittently, an intermittent drive is herein disclosed, and is illustrated especially in Fig. 5 of the drawings. A motor 40 drives a shaft 41 having a worm 42 fixed thereon, which worm meshes with and drives a worm wheel 43 on a vertical shaft 44. Splined to this shaft 44 and arranged for axial movement therealong is a clutch element 45 having its axial movement controlled by a yoke 46 tired to a plunger 47 normally ur 'ed upwardly by a spring 48. lVhen this plunger 47 is depressed, the clutch element 45 is brought downwardly into cooperation with another clutch element 49 formed on a sleeve 50 rotatable on the vertical shaft 44. Thus the sleeve 50 is driven and, through a spiral ear 51 mounted on the sleeve, transmits motion to a spiral gear 52 on a shaft 53. This shaft 53 extends across the aoparatus and has sprockets iiXed thereto whic engage the chains 1? of the conveying mechanism,

shown in Fig. 1. In this way, the conveying mechanism is driven whenever'the clutch element 45 is brought into cooperation with the clutch element 49.

ll hen the plunger 47 has been depressed to close the clutch, it is latched in depressed position by a latching lever 55 normally urged toward latching position by a spring 56. A spiral 57 formed'on the sleeve 50 meshes with another spiral gear 58 on a =hatt 59, and this spiral gear 58 carries a in (30 which, during its revolution, hits a nose 51 on the latching lever 55 and releases the latch so that the plunger 47 springs upwardly under the influence of the spring 48 and disengages he clutch, thus stopping the drive of the conveying mechanism until the plunger is again depressed.

The relative proportions of the various gears are so chosen that the conveying mech anism will be driven a desired predetermined distance upon each actuation of the clutch plunger 47. In the present instance, as shown in F 1, three of the pin bars 18 are used, spaced at equal intervals along the chains 17, although more or fewer pin bars could be employed if desired. When three pin bars are used, the gearing of the drive mechanism is preferably arranged so that each actuation of the clutch will drive the conveying mechanism an amount equal to the distance between two pin bars, so that at the end of one actuation, when the clutch is automatically disengaged, one pin bar will be at the position formerly occupied by the preceding pin bar at the beginning of the driving action; Fig. 1 illustrates the pin llt) bars in their normal positions of rest, in which one pin bar is so placed that its attached. print is in the developing bath 20, the second pin bar stops with its attached print in the washing bath 21, while the third pin bar stops approximately at the tops of the sprockets in position to have its attached print wiped off of it by the oz acillating member The drive for the oscillating print remover is shown in F ig. 5, and comprises a spiral gear fixed to the upper end of the con-- stantly rotating shaft 44, this gear meshing with another spiral gear 66 to which is pivoted a link 67 connected to a crank arm 68 on the outer end of a shaft69 which extends through the casing of the apparatus. The inner end of this shaft, inside the casing, carries another crank arm 70 connected by a link 71 toan arm 72 on theshaft 30. Thus the rotation of the shaft 14, through the various links and arms above described, oscillates the shaft 30 and operates the print removing mechanism.

It is desirable, in apparatus of this charac ter. to have the fixingbath 23 in which the prints are deposited in a more or less open and accessible position, so that the operator of the apparatus may. easily reach into this bath to remove prints therefrom, or may look at the prints within the bath to see whether they are satisfactory, without removing them. Accordingly, as will be observed from Figs. 1 and 3, the main portion of the fixing bath 23 has no cover over it, but is entirely open from above. This placing of the fixing bath in what might be termed a light chamber rather than in a dark chamber, open to one possible objection, howevenin that the prints when placed face upwardly in the fixing bath may be somewhat spotted or otherwise affected by. light before they have become fixed by the fixing solution. It is especially to prevent this that the present invention has been devised. According to this invention, the print is subjected to what might be iermed a preliminary fixing action While it is still in a dark or substantially dark portion ofthe apparatus, which preliminary fixin action sufficient to prevent the print being affected by light when placed in the fixing bath to which light has access.

According to the present invention, the fixing bath 23 is divided into two portions by a partition 28, which has been mentioned above. The main or forward portion of the bath is the portion in which the printsare finallydeposited, and is open to light coming in from above. The portion behind the partition 28 is of considerably smaller size, and a cover hinged at 81' overlies this rear portion and excludes light therefrom, so that the rear portion of the bath: may be said to be in a dark chamber.

A shaft 82 extends across the apparatus slightly above the path of travel of the con veying mechanism, as best shown in F igs. 1 and 3, and this shaft carries a pair of arms 83 on which is pivotally mounted a dipper 84. This dipper has one side lower than the other, the low side having a height less than the depth of the liquid within the bath 23, so that when the dipper rests upon the bottom of the bath container, .s shown in Fig. 1, liquid will flow into it over the low side and fill the dipper.

hen the arms 83 are shifted to elevate the dipper to a position such as is shown in Fig. 3, the bottom of the dipper then slopes toward the high side wall, and the liquid contents of the dipper drip out through a plurality of perforations 85 arranged adjacent the bottom of this high side ofthe dipper, as shown in Figs. 3 and 1.

Means is provided for automatically elevating the dipper to the position shown in Fig. 3 just prior to the passage of a print, so that the liquid within the dipper will drip out upon the print and thus produce the desired preliminary fixing action. This meanscomprises an arm 86 on a shaft 82, a link 87 connected to this arm, a bell crank 88 connecting the link 87 to a forwardly extending link 89, and a lever to which the forward end of the link 89 is pivoted, this lever 90 carrying a roller 91 acting as a cam follower to cooperate with an operating cam 92 mounted on the shaft 59. It will be recalled that the shaft 59 is driven from the spiral gear 57 on the sleeve 50 (Fig. 5) so that the shaft 59 is driven intermittently in accordance with the intermittent driving of the conveying mechanism. The cam 92 is so placed on the shaft 59 that it will act upon the follower roller 91 to raise the dipper 84 just prior to the passage of a pin bar 18 under the dipper, and the cam is provided with a dwell portion-to hold the dipper elevated during the passage of the entire print, lowering the edge of the print has passed beyond the dipper. hen the dipper is lowered, it goes down between the two chains 17, and the arms 83 which sup-port the dipper extend across the P f ravel of the pin bars. The

travel of the pin bars is never interfered with by the dipper, however, because of the automatic elevation of the dipper when a pin bar approaches.

A print being drawn along beneath the elevated dipper is shown in Fig. 3 and is designated by the letter P. This figure illustrates clearly the liquid flowing from the dipper 84 out through the perforations 85 and onto the top of the print P, which is the emulsion side of the print. The fixing solution thus applied to the print by the dipper gives the'print a preliminary fix which is suflicient to prevent the print from becoming spotted or otherwise affected by light dipper again only after the rear 3 :9

when it is brought out of the dark chamber into the light and deposited in the fixing bath. The permanent or final fixation of the print is accomplished in this fixing bath.

The partition 28 has openings 95 extending through it near the bottom of the bath, so that liquid from the main portion of the bath may flow into the rear or dipper compartment to take the place of the liquid re moved from this compartment by elevation of the dipper. The bath container is made somewhat wider than the width of a print, so that the liquid applied to the print by the dipper may drip off the edges of the print and fall back into the bath, thus not being wasted. The partition 28 acts as a guard to keep the prints which have been deposited in the forward portion of the bath from drifting rearwardly to a position in which they might interfere with the dipper.

The operation of the apparatus may be briefly reviewed as follows: The sensitized material held in the focal plane 11 of the camera is exposed, and is then fed downwardly into the chute 15, 16 and severed by operation of the knife 14. The plungerl'? of the driving mechanism is then depressed, which starts the drive of the conveying mechanism and moves one of the pin bars 18 past the mouth of the chute 15, 16, so that the print is impaled upon the pins 19 and carried into the developing bath 20, where it is automatically stopped by the intermittent drive. Another exposure is then made,

- and the plunger i? is again depressed, after the exposed print has been fed and severed. The conveying mechanism is then actuated so that a second pin bar moves past the chute to pick up the second print, the first pin bar meanwhile advancing with its attached print from the developing bath 2() to the washing bath 21.

When another exposure has beenmade, and the plunger 4? again depressed, a third pin bar picks up the third print, the second pin bar advances with its print from the developing bath 20 in which it had previously stopped to the washing bath 21, while the first pin bar moves upwardly with its print from the washing bath 21 to the shaft 22 and around this shaft, traveling forwardly toward the sprockets 24 and stopping about at the top of the sprockets. During this travel, about the time that the pin reaches the shaft 22, the cam 92 automatically raises the dipper 84 and the fixing solution within'the dipper runs out through the perforations 85 and onto the top of the print while the print is being drawn along beneath the dipper. Thus the print is given a preliminary fix while his still in the dark chamher, and this prevents it from being aifected by light when it emerges from beneath the protecting covering 80. The excess liquic deposited onthe print from the dipper simply runs ofi the edges of the print and back into the bath.

At or before the time that the pin bar reaches the sprockets 24, the entire length of the print has been drawn out of the dark chamber and past the dipper and the cam 92 then allows the dipper to descend from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. in which it is filled up again with liquid eady for the next actuation. W hen the pin has passed partly around the sprockets iaad stopped near the tops of the sprockets, he next succeeding oscillation of the member 32 wipes the print off of the pins and allows the entire print to fall to the bath 23, where it floats on or near the surface until submerged by suitable submerging means or by The operation above described continues as long as may be desired, each succeeding print undergoing the preliminary fixation in the darn; chamber and then being deposited on top of the previous prints in the main fixing bath which is more or less accessible to light. The operator may reachinto the fixing bath through the open top thereof to remove prints therefrom at any time desired, or may look into the" bath to inspect the prints without removing them, since they are face up.

lVhile one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a number of ways. This application is therefore not to be limited to the precise details shown, but is intended to cover all varia tions and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a photographic apparatus, the combination with a print treating bath, of mechanism for conveying a photographic print, and means operating intermittently in timed relationship with said conveying nechanism for removing a quantity of liquid from said bath and applying it to said print to treat the same. r

2. In a photographic apparatus, the combination with a print treating bath, of mechanism for conveying a photographic print along a predetermined path of travel above said bath, and means operating intermittently in timed relationship to said conveying mechanism for lifting a quantity of liquid from said bath and depositing it upon said print.

3. in a photographic apparatus, the comination with a print treating bath, of mechanism for conveying a photographic print, and means including a dipper operable automatically in timed relationship with said conveying mechanismfor removing a quantity of liquid from said bath and applying it to said print. i

4;. In a photographic apparatus, the comthe dropping of another print on top of it.

bination with a print treating bath, of mechanism for conveying a photographic print along a predetermined path or" travel above said bath, and means including a dipper operable automatically in timed relationship with said conveying mechanism for lifting a quantity of liquid from said bath and appiying it to said print.

5. In a photographic apparatus, the combination with a print treating bath, cit print conveying mechanism including a member movable along a predetermined path of travel above said bath, a perforated dipper arranged to be immersed in said bath and to be filled with liquid therefrom, and means for automatically elevating said Clipper in timed relationship with the travel of said conveying mechanism to a point above the path of travel of said member of said conveying mechanism, so that liquid from said dipper Will be applied to a print carried by said conveying mechanism.

6. In a photographic apparatus, the 001m bination With a dark chamber and a light chamber, of a fixing bath Within said light chamber, mechanism for conveying a photographic print from said dark chamber into said light chamber and for depositing the print in said fixing bath, and means for removing liquid from said fixing bath and applying it to said print While the print is substantially in said dark chamber, to subject said print to a preliminary fixing action sufficient to prevent its becoming affected by light While undergoing final fixation in said fixing bath.

7. In a photographic apparatus, the combination with a dark chamber and a light chamber, of a photographic print fixing bath having a portion Within said dark chamber and another portion Within said light cham ber, mechanism for conveying a photographic print from said dark chamber into said light chamber and for depositing the print in the portion of the fixing bath Within the light chamber, and means for removing a quantity of liquid from the portion of the fixing bath Within said dark chamber and applying it to a print prior to the removal of the print from said dark chamber by said conveying mechanism.

8. In a photographic apparatus, the combination With a photographic print treating bath, of conveying mechanism for conveying a protographic print along a predetermined path of travel above said bath, a perforated dipper arranged to be immersed in said bath and filled with liquid therefrom, and means including a cam operable in timed relationship With said print conveying mechanism for elevating said dipper prior to the passage of a print to a position above the path of travel of the print so that liquid from said dipper will flow upon said print.

9. In a photographic apparatus, the comguard means for holding a print deposited in said bath from coming into contact with said movable member.

ARTHUR W. CAPS. 

